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FALSE SOCIAL MEDIA STATEMENTS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE SERVICES CLUB
Dear Members, Community Groups and Stakeholders,
As a result of false social media statements, our Club has had to make an unusual decision to place corflute notices on our property to reassure our Members, Community Groups, Stakeholders and the ACT Community in general that:
- The Canberra Services Club is still trading and operational; and
- The Canberra Services Club intends to return to our historic site.
The false social media statements, defaming the Club and its Directors is not acceptable. We of course support free speech, but free speech should not be used to divide our Canberra community or falsely damage the good standing and historic reputation of the Canberra Services Club, or our Directors, who all work in a voluntary capacity.
We are the only Community Club in Canberra that supports those who serve both our community and country. Through our Community Incentive Program we are financially assisting Not-For-Profit entities and charities that support our Canberra Community.
The negative and false comments being made hinder our opportunity to return to our historic club site and 'plays into the hands of developers' who would love to buy our land off the ACT Government, if we are unable to return to our historic site with a new financially viable community club.
Please ignore the false and malicious statements being made on Social Media by persons who prefer conspiracy over reality, fiction over fact, deception over truth, and self glorification over our community values.
After all this time, we are still only at the first stage of trying to change to our Concessional Lease to a Standard Lease. We appreciate the responses received to date in relation to the first stage of the two stage process to enable us to rebuild on our historic site at Manuka.
Our Concessional Lease has unworkable provisions, including building restrictions that apply to the old building that burnt down and provisions that prohibit secondary income on the site. We know a standalone small community club is not viable without a secondary source of income and patronage. Under a Standard Lease this can be achieved through appropriate development.
A Standard Lease enables us to build within the Building Zone under the Territory Plan. This Zone already governs various aspects of land use, including building heights, setbacks, parking requirements, density limits etc.
The second stage will require us to submit a seperate Development Application (DA) and go through the normal consultation process in relation to any proposed building structure.
We wish to continue engaging with Members, Community Groups and the broader community throughout this whole process. We noted that during the previous round of Community Group discussions, that there was some difficulty within a group setting, to fully explain the removal of the concessional lease process.
If Members, Community Groups and Stakeholders would like us to speak to you in a smaller setting, please contact the Club and we will organise a session at our Club to enable focussed discussion on the process.
We will continue discussions with Members, Community Groups and Stakeholder as we genuinely wish to take community feedback into account during this two Stage process.
Please find a letter from the Canberra Services Club attached. On 25 June 2024 this letter was provided to various Community Groups and individuals who had previously attended our consultation meetings. This letter provides information on the Club's intentions, more information on the removal of concessional status, and some indicative plans prepared to inform discussion on the proposed outcome.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Jon Hunt-Sharman
President
Canberra Services Club